BJP-Ramdev honeymoon comes to an end

NEW DELHI: Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Sunday took a dig at BJP’s PM candidate Narendra Modi by terming him as a man in a hurry to be PM, and by expressing disappointment over party nominations going to “tainted” candidates. The distrust appears to be mutual, with the yoga entrepreneur’s remarks completing the collapse of what was once seen as coming together of two forces united as much by their commitment to saffron issues as the intense antipathy towards Sonia Gandhi-led Congress.

While the BJP has not gone public with its fresh view about Ramdev, the leadership, according to sources, is exasperated with him for what is being referred to as a stubborn pitch for tickets for his nominees. According to sources, Ramdev wants about a score of his nominees to be fielded by the party. These include an influential officer of an investigating agency which is supposed to be probing the yoga guru’s flourishing business. Sources said Ramdev wanted the officer to be fielded from Amroha in UP. BJP’s central election committee instead allotted the seat to ex-cricketer Chetan Chauhan.

The party also turned down his pitch for Nawal Kishore Yadav for Pataliputra seat. Although Nawal Kishore had appeared a shoo-in for the key seat, the party eventually settled for Ram Kripal Yadav when he crossed over from RJD.

However, other candidates of Ramdev remain hopeful. One of those, Chand Maharaj, also a guru, has even started his campaign for Alwar. Ramdev has recommended other gurus as well — Sumedhanand who is seeking the ticket for Sikar and Debvrat Maharaj who has shown interest in Haryana’s Hisar constituency. Ramdev also recommended Karan Singh, who contested the last LS poll on a BSP ticket, for Kairana in western UP. He has staked his claim by impressing upon the party his contribution to saffron causes. Party sources said they laud his role in popularizing yoga and his drive against black money but said they can’t sacrifice the party's interests to appease “someone's outsize ego” .